Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

Without a doubt, this was the largest tree Zhuang Xing had ever seen.

The place where that spruce tree stood was their destination, Hundred Flowers Valley.

As you walk further, the greenery around you increases, and the atmosphere becomes more vibrant.

Zhuang Xing spotted a familiar plant growing in the grass; it was a snake fruit plant, but the fruit had already been picked.

The tree looks close, but it's actually quite a distance away.

Before long, the two men and one horse entered the mountains and forests. It was a spruce forest with a clear stream that washed over the rocks, splashing up white water.

The air in the mountains is very fresh, small fish swim in the water, the ground is slightly damp, and green moss and fallen leaves cover the tree roots. Stepping on the leaves feels soft and fluffy underfoot.

After following the stream for a while, we came to a meadow.

There were red berries on the grass, and birds were pecking at them. When they saw people coming, they fluttered their wings and flew away.

Seeing that the red fruit was bright in color and had a sweet aroma, Zhuang Xing picked one.

He didn't quite recognize what kind of fruit it was, and when he showed it to Yunling, she shook her head, unsure if it was edible.

This must be a fruit unique to Xizhou; you can't find it anywhere else.

It's not a spiritual fruit either; if it were, it would be easier to recognize.

While Zhuang Xing was still pondering whether to try the taste, a figure appeared not far away.

No...it's not a human figure, it's a monkey figure.

Five or six macaques slowly walked over.

These macaques were clearly not wild. They carried bamboo baskets on their backs, came to the grassland, stretched out their paws to pick the red berries, and tossed them gently into their baskets with practiced ease.

In addition, some climbed up the trees, where there were also fruits, which were pale yellow apricots.

The macaques' baskets were already about half full of fruit.

The macaques weren't afraid of people; they only glanced at Zhuang Xing and Yunling briefly before going about their own business.

Zhuang Xing looked at them curiously; these macaques seemed to have gained sentience and had been educated.

While he was watching the monkeys, a macaque even started interacting with Yunling.

When the macaque passed by Yunling, it grabbed a handful of fruit and casually stuffed it into Yunling's hand.

These fruits are only slightly larger than cherries; even a monkey's paw, which is smaller than a human hand, can grab five or six in one go.

It seems that the monkey saw the two people standing there looking pitiful and shared some fruit with them.

However, only Yunling received the fruit; none of the macaques gave it to Zhuang Xing.

Yes, we also have Wuzhui.

The black horse ran over and nudged the back of a macaque's head. The monkey's face and the horse's face stared at each other for a while, and the monkey's voice and the horse's voice each said a few words, as if they were communicating in the language of animals. Then the macaque threw a few fruits into the black horse's mouth, and the little horse chewed them with great enjoyment.

Yunling has been close to animals since she was a child, so it was not surprising to Zhuang Xing that the macaques were close to her.

Anyway, the monkey wouldn't give him fruit, but Yunling would.

As soon as Yunling got the fruit, she shared it with Zhuang Xing.

The fruit is sweet and sour, and very juicy. I thought it would be more sour because it's a wild fruit, but it's not sour at all, and has a faint milky aroma.

While eating the fruit, Zhuang Xing thought that this place must be very close to Hundred Flowers Valley, and these macaques must be raised by the people in the valley.

Although the macaques seemed unable to speak human language, Zhuang Xing still treated them with human courtesy.

He cupped his hands slightly and said, "My name is Zhuang Xing, and this lady beside me is my fellow disciple, Yunling."

"We both come from Xuanqing Temple, and are disciples of Daoist Qingxuzi and Daoist Yuanyan. We are here to visit our teachers' friends in Baihua Valley."

"I wonder... fellow monkeys, could you lead us to Hundred Flowers Valley?"

The macaque scratched its head, looked at him with a confused look in its eyes, as if it didn't understand what he was saying.

Seeing this, Yunling seemed to understand and stepped forward, saying, "We want to go to Hundred Flowers Valley. Can you take us there?"

The macaque suddenly realized what was happening and let out two loud cries.

However, they did not leave the meadow; they simply continued picking fruit.

After watching for a while, Yunling said, "It seems like they want to fill their bamboo baskets to the brim before they can go back."

“Is that so?” Zhuang Xing said. “Then let’s help them pick some fruit.”

"Mm." Yunling nodded.

Although Zhuang Xing couldn't communicate effectively with these macaques, having Yunling, an animal friend, made things less troublesome.

The two of them stood by the grass and helped the macaques pick fruit and throw it into their baskets.

Seeing that someone was helping, the monkey wasn't ashamed at all. It put down its basket and went up the tree to help its companion pick apricots.

Seeing the bamboo basket in front of him, Zhuang Xing couldn't help but smile: "This monkey isn't afraid that we'll steal its fruit. It's really simple-minded."

"Do you think if we take its fruit away, it will teach it a lesson?"

Yunling smiled slightly after hearing his joke.

Encountering this group of silly macaques on the road was quite an interesting experience.

The two did not steal the monkey's harvest; they simply helped the monkey pick all the fruit.

Having picked most of the fruit from the meadow, the monkeys finally decided to head back.

The macaque in the tree came down, picked up its basket, glanced at the two Taoists, and quietly grabbed two handfuls of apricots from the other monkeys, as if settling wages, and put them into the Taoist's clothes bag before heading into the forest.

Zhuang Xing felt that this monkey with white eyebrows was a bit smarter than the other monkeys.

The two then followed the monkey troop forward, passing through mountains and forests.

Finally, after following the monkey for a while along the mountain path, they entered the area covered by the canopy of the spruce tree.

There are small blue stone steps in front of you, leading slowly into a quiet valley shrouded by large trees.

As you get closer, you realize what a huge tree it is. Its canopy grows out of the valley and extends outwards, like a giant umbrella that blocks out the sky.

Only sparse sunlight pierced through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled golden light on the grass and bushes.

It's cool all around, and there are some flowers and plants growing there. In spring, the flowers and fruits bloom, and it's a very pleasant sight.

The macaques led the way, and Zhuang Xing followed.

The little horse and the monkeys got to know each other better, and as they walked, they ended up in a group.

Before even entering the valley, Zhuang Xing saw people waiting at the valley entrance.

It was a girl wearing a light blue dress. When she saw the monkey, her eyes lit up, and she seemed to be waiting for the monkey to return.

Chapter 190 Tree Spirit

When the girl in the green dress saw the monkey arrive, she ran over with a smile, patted the monkey's head, grabbed two fruits from the basket, stuffed one into the left side and one into the right side, puffing out her cheeks.

Then she noticed the two Taoist priests who had accompanied her. Her smile froze, and she immediately ran to a nearby tree and hid.

Zhuang Xing wanted to strike up a conversation with her, but suddenly noticed something strange: the girl had vanished.

While Zhuang Xing was not paying attention, Yunling looked toward a tree to the side and saw a shadow behind it. The girl's aura was almost blended into the tree, and no ordinary person would have noticed her.

Yunling noticed the girl only because of a premonition in her heart.

She lived on the mountain, spending her days among the plants and trees. The feeling this girl in the green dress gave her was very similar to the plants and trees she saw every day.

She had no concrete evidence, nor did she have a definite way of identifying it, but she had a premonition that the girl in front of her was not human, but rather a plant spirit in human form.

The transformation of plants into spirits is even rarer than the transformation of birds and beasts into spirits.

For example, the ginseng baby in the classics has to grow for a hundred years in the mountains with abundant spiritual energy, without being picked by anyone or eaten by any beasts, before it has any chance of pulling itself out of the soil.

But that only allows you to walk; if you want to transform into human form, you need many more years of cultivation and practice.

To attain such skill and cultivation is extremely difficult.

It should be noted that most plants that can become spirits are spiritual herbs and plants, which can be used in medicine and alchemy.

Whether they are demons or humans, they all regard plant spirits as rare treasures, and if they encounter them, they will try every means to capture them.

The only advantage of plant spirits compared to other living beings is their long lifespan. They are free from disasters and can easily live for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Yunling thought that the girl in the green dress hiding behind the tree was so agile, she must have cultivated for many years. Perhaps she had experienced all sorts of things in the past, which is why she was so timid and wary of strangers.

In the end, Yunling did not expose the girl hiding behind the tree.

She slowly moved her head away, thinking it best to pretend she hadn't seen anything to avoid disturbing them.

Zhuang Xing looked for a while but couldn't find the girl, so he gave up.

The macaques had all gone into the valley, but the white-browed monkey was still standing at the valley entrance waiting.

Zhuang walked forward. Before entering the valley, although he didn't see anyone, he still respectfully introduced himself in the direction where the girl had disappeared and repeated what he had told the monkey.

Then he followed the macaque inside.

After the Taoist priest disappeared, the girl in the green dress emerged from behind the tree. She looked in the direction of the valley, and then her figure vanished again, disappearing without a trace.

On the other side, after Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling entered Hundred Flowers Valley, they were finally greeted by someone.

Several women were talking to the monkeys; they were all dressed in the same blue and green clothes.

"Please come with me, both of you. The Valley Master has been waiting for you for a long time," a woman said as she stepped forward.

Zhuang Xing was a little puzzled and asked, "Senior, we've only just entered Hundred Flowers Valley, why has the Valley Master been waiting for us for so long? Did the Valley Master know we were coming?"

The woman smiled and said, "Did you two speak with these macaques in the forest? Did you say you came from Xuanqing Temple?"

"I did say that," Zhuang Xing nodded.

“Then that’s it. About an incense stick’s time ago, the Valley Master said that a guest was coming to visit and would come with the macaques picking fruit. He told us to greet the guest here and not to be impolite.”

About an incense stick's time ago, around the time Zhuang Xing and Yun Ling encountered the macaque.

In other words, when he bumped into the macaque, or even earlier, the Valley Master of Hundred Flowers Valley already knew about him and had overheard his conversation with the monkey.

Zhuang Xing understood that he had met a master.

This Valley of a Hundred Flowers is not just a name; it probably has some real skills.